1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a wire dispenser for holding and dispensing one or more spools of electrical wire or television or computer cable. The wire dispenser of the invention is particularly suitable for use at construction sites, including industrial locations and home building sites, and for cable television and computer network installation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An efficient and convenient means for dispensing electrical wire and television or computer cable would be useful in a wide variety of applications. For example, electricians must often dispense large quantities of electrical wire at industrial or home construction sites; cable television providers must dispense large quantities of cable at cable television installation sites; and computer hardware providers must dispense large quantities of computer cables in offices or other locations where, for example, computer networks are being installed. In all of these applications, a means by which the electrical wire or television or computer cable is dispensed should have certain characteristics to provide maximum efficiency and convenience to the user.
First, a dispenser of electrical wire or television or computer cable, hereinafter referred to simply as a wire dispenser, should hold a plurality of wire spools. Second, the wire spools should be directly observable to check the amount of wire remaining on each spool. Third, each wire spool should be easily replaced when it becomes exhausted without having to remove other spools which are not yet exhausted. Fourth, a means should be provided to prevent the wire spools from spinning freely as wire is dispensed therefrom. Free spinning is a problem in those wire dispensers where it occurs because it results in the unnecessary dispensing of wire before it is needed. Finally, the wire dispenser should be portable, i.e., it should be capable of being carried manually to different sites as needed.
The use of dispensers for containing and dispensing electrical wire is known in the art. For example, U.S. Des. Pat. No. D-304,534 to Gustafson for a wire dispenser rack discloses an ornamental design for a wire dispenser rack which comprises a series of shelves on which wire spools can be stored and dispensed. However, the size of the rack renders it cumbersome and thereby reduces its portability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,268 to Kober for an electrical wire dispenser with cutter and stripper provides a housing for dispensing a single spool of wire, but requires disassembly of the dispenser housing to replace an exhausted spool of wire and does not allow for the incorporation of multiple wire spools.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,854 to Gibson et al. for a wire dispenser container discloses a paperboard container adapted to hold and dispense a single spool or roll of wire. As with the Kober patent, above, this dispenser requires disassembly to replace an exhausted spool of wire, and does not provide for multiple spools of wire. In addition, since the paperboard container encloses the wire spool, the amount of wire remaining on the spool cannot be easily determined.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. D-253,022 to Sligh discloses an ornamental design for a combined rack and dispenser for spooled wire. However, use of this rack design at a construction site has several drawbacks. First, the rack is too large to be easily portable. Second, since a plurality of wire spools are held in place with a rod commonly running through their center holes, replacement of one exhausted spool requires removal of several spools at the same time. Third, no means are provided to prevent a wire spool from spinning freely when a user pulls wire from the spool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,395 to Cross discloses a wire carrier and method of using the same. However, the carrier is adapted to carry specifically determined lengths of wire for specialized applications, rather than spools of wire for general use.
Accordingly, there is a need for a wire dispenser that can hold a plurality wire spools, that allows direct observation of the wire spools to determine how much wire remains on each spool, that allows each wire spool to be easily replaced when it becomes exhausted, that provides means to prevent free spinning of wire spools, and that is portable.